You could say that the Alfa 75 Turbo Evoluzione is the Italian automotive equivalent of a unicorn, seen usually only in press photos and nowhere else.
Alfa Romeo is in the news these days, announcing that it will return to rear-wheel-drive models in order to restore its former glory. The last time we saw that from an Alfa (no, the 8C or 4C do not count) was the 75 or Milano for the American market.
In a rather rare video, Italian journalist, Davide Cironi, drives an even rarer and stunning Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo Evoluzione, trying to remind us what kind of cars the Italian firm was building in the past. It’s not the prettiest moment of the Milanese company but the last RWD Alfa had focused character and balanced handling, remaining highly respected among the hardcore fans of the firm even today.
Alfa produced 500 of these back in the day for homologation purposes and on paper, there were no differences on the output of the turbocharged 1.8lt engine from the 155hp standard version.
Alfa Romeo did numerous changes under the skin like changing the bore of the engine from 80mm to 79.6mm, changing the total capacity of the engine to 1762cc in order to avoid the 3-litre class in the Tourism championships of the era when multiplied by 1.7 (the factor for turbocharged cars).
The ‘80s produced numerous instant classics with the kind help of certain motorsport homologation rules that demanded the limited production of the car intended for racing. Cars like the Audi ur-Quattro, Lancia Delta Integrale, BMW E30 M3, even the Ferrari 288 GTO exist only because of these rules and we can’t feel thankful enough. Between this company, the Turbo Evoluzione was doomed to be forgotten, especially when the headline figures didn’t suggest anything different apart from the sportier exterior and some funky red 15in wheels. But this doesn’t mean a thing. If a super-rare Italian RWD homologation special turbo sedan isn’t cool enough for you, I don’t know what it is.
Alfa Romeo is set to make a big return on the automotive map with its all-new range of RWD models. The first model of this new era will be unveiled on June 24 in Italy and is no other than the long-awaited 3-Series rival, possibly using the historic Giulia nameplate, and will be available in the United States soon after.
Let’s hope Alfa will do justice to its glorious past this time.
By Michael Karkafiris